


Introduction to Post-Assessment Anxieties

by TheVioletSunflower



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Abed is a good boyfriend, Autistic Abed, Canon Autistic Character, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers for s03e05 Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 09:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11079213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVioletSunflower/pseuds/TheVioletSunflower
Summary: After Britta makes the study group take psychological tests, Troy starts to worry about his results.





	Introduction to Post-Assessment Anxieties

"Abed?"

"Yeah, Troy?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Abed looked up from the laptop he had been using to look through dailies. "Sure."

Troy opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something before sighing and shaking his head. "Never mind. It's stupid. Go back to editing."

Abed closed his laptop and put it down on the couch beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Who said anything was wrong?" Troy asked with a nervous laugh. "Nothing's wrong. Why would something be wrong? There's nothing wrong here!"

"You're rambling. You only ramble when you're nervous. You also asked if you could ask me something, which you don't do unless you're about to ask something serious, normally you just ask me a question without asking permission first. And you're avoiding eye contact and playing with the hem of your shirt, which is normal for me, but not for you. If you don't want to talk about what's wrong, that's fine, but something is wrong."

Troy stared at him in silence for a few seconds before sitting down on the other end of the couch. Abed sat quietly, waiting for Troy to speak. Troy didn't like to be rushed to speak before he was ready, and Abed didn't mind waiting.

Abed had almost decided that Troy didn't want to talk after all when Troy finally blurted out "Remember last Halloween?"

"You mean when Britta made all of us tell scary stories as a way of psychoanalyzing us because she thought one of us displayed symptoms of an extreme personality disorder in line with murderers and rapists, and then it turned out she just fed our personality tests through the machine backwards and actually all of us but one were insane?"

"Yeah, that…" He sounded far more awkward than usual.

"Sorry. Did I over-summarize?"

"No. It's cool. I've just… I've been thinking about that night a lot recently."

"Why?"

Troy started picking at the edge of his shirt again. "Do you think the tests were right? Do you think I have homicidal tendencies?"

"No," Abed answers without hesitation. Troy doesn't look comforted, so he elaborates. "Psychological questionnaires are rarely accurate. My parents sent me to dozens of doctors when I was a kid and none of them was ever able to give me a coherent diagnosis. And when they did, the treatments they prescribed were generally unhelpful. And Britta isn't even a doctor yet. I doubt she would be able to do even that."

"But… I don't understand what you guys are talking about half the time, and when I do, I always feel wrong about it. Or I just don't know what I feel at all. And I dunno. Maybe that means there's something wrong with me."

"I rarely know how people are feeling," Abed pointed out. "Do you think I'm homicidal?"

Troy sighs. "That's different, Abed. You don't understand emotions, and you express them differently, but you'd feel bad if someone died. There's nothing wrong with you."

Abed raised his eyebrows slightly. "Died? Who died?"

Troy looked down at the floor. "My nana. Last week. And I should be sad. That's what people feel when their grandparents die. But I just… don't. I've tried to cry for her, but every time I just end up crying about how I can't cry." His voice started to gain a thick quality that made Abed suspect he was close to crying now.

"Nana Barnes or Nana Johnson?"

"Nana Barnes," he mumbled.

"Isn't she the one who beat you as a child, and then disowned you when she found out we were dating?"

"Well, yeah. But I should still feel something, right?"

"I don't think so. She was cruel to you from a young age, and made you feel ashamed to be who you are. Not feeling sorry that she's gone seems reasonable to me."

Troy looked up at him with eyes that were damp and slightly red. "You think?"

"Yes. But admittedly emotions aren't my strong suit. Your question would probably be a better one for Annie than for me."

He shakes his head. "I don't want to talk to Annie about this. She doesn't understand like you do. And you're the most important person to me. If you don't think I'm some sort of monster…"

"You're not a monster, Troy."

"How do you know that?"

"Because we have buttered noodles on Wednesdays."

Troy frowned quietly for a moment before shaking his head and asking "What?"

"You hate buttered noodles. But every Wednesday, you make them for me. Even if that means you can't have some other food you might like better."

"Of course I do! Buttered noodles are your favourite!"

"Yeah. And that's something that wouldn't matter to you if you were a monster. You take care of me."

Troy gives him a small smile. "Yeah. Cause I love you."

Abed reaches out to take his hand. He had found the gesture useful in comforting Troy on several occasions. "I love you too, Troy."

Troy absently stroked the back of Abed's hand. "Will you go to the funeral with me?"

"If that's what you want. But aren't you worried about your family?"

He shook his head. "I'm done hiding from them. And Nana can't disown me any more than she already has. And it'd probably piss her ghost off to see you there."

Abed's face lit up. "I've always wondered what it would be like to have a ghost mad at me! It would open up a whole new genre of film for us! We could shoot horror films! Or build a proton pack like in Ghostbusters! Do you think she would agree to chase us around campus while we pretend she's a demon we summoned accidentally?"

Troy laughed and squeezed Abed's hand. "Can I kiss you, Abed?"

As an answer, Abed leaned in and pressed their lips together. It was tender and sweet, like most of their kisses were, and Abed hoped it communicated all the love he felt for his boyfriend. And if he interpreted Troy's grin when they pulled apart correctly, it had.


End file.
